If you’ve stumbled upon this post and now find yourself very confused, fear not! This is my response to Imogen Browder’s post, in which she asked me a few questions. Here is my reply:
I’ll answer your questions Imogen, but isn’t it only fair if I asked you a few too? You know, to reciprocate and such? Before you indulge in what I’m sure are my juicy answers, take a look at these few questions. They’re not so horrible, I promise!
And here they are... I won’t stall anymore!
1) When you were looking at Tufts, why did you read these blogs? Did they make a difference when it came to your decision?
As an overwhelmed, giddily-excited, and confused high school senior, what first drew me to the blogs was (whack me if this is banal) curiosity. Shiny pictures and enthusiastic faces are why I stayed. Of course, there was more to it. The blogs really did impact my decision and NOT just because they’re so darn pretty. They allowed me to experience the typical Jumbo. They allowed me to see projections of Tufts-norms, projections I could then compare with my goofy, high school self and with who I thought I’d like to be in four (or so) years: my goofy, collegiate self. In a way it was parental questioning at work. Well, do you see yourself at this school, in these people? Considering I’m now a blogger (a coincidence that still sends me reeling) I think the answer was and is (and will always be!) yes. I read and reread the blogs to confirm what some part of me already knew - that Tufts was the place for me, that I wanted to be like who I saw.
2) What were your favorite posts (if you remember any of them...)?
I do remember a few posts from way back when, but not nearly as distinctly as I remember faces, captions, and bios. Those were what really stuck - and if you’re thinking that’s only because I have the attention span of a goldfish and enjoy reading bite-sized bios, well, you’re only half right! Dan Grayson the eater of everything (or was it anything?), Eddie Pickett the bow-tie enthusiast (bow ties are cool), and Jehan Madhani the accidental adventurer (“Super Jehan”) were all memorable names. And now they’re more than that; they’re coworkers and friends. That’s my favorite part.
3) What do you hope people will understand about Tufts through your writing?
While Tufts-blogging (verb) it’s important that my posts are pertinent, relevant, and all that - it’s important to have applicable whats, in other words - but many traits of Tufts I’d like to reveal aren’t prepackaged “whats” at all. Rather, they’re better expressed in “hows.” How I write, how you write, how Super Jehan writes (and how she saves the world I presume) all contribute to what I hope prospective students take away. And now I guess I should stop avoiding the question... Really though, it’s about voice. I hope people listen to the what, the how, the comedy, the intelligence, the seriousness, the sass, and the personality found within every post on this blog because those voices are a few of the many of Tufts. In many ways they are Tufts. I hope people will understand that these voices, these people (myself included!), are real, and they’d love to get to know their readers and their readers’ voices.
4) Most difficult one: best thing that’s happened to you since Orientation?
Imogen, what an impossible question! My (new) life has begun since orientation. Everything has happened... I can already see my younger, still home-bound sister cringing at this proposition. The best things (yes, I’m going to have to make it plural) that have happened to me since orientation actually started to occur during orientation. They are, simply, new people and new friends. After the initial rut of every potentially awkward introduction comes the high of meeting someone truly spectacular. I’ve meet friends who I know will be friends for a long while, throughout and past college. The best things that have happened to me won’t stop happening for years.
5) One blog post you would recommend to everyone?
This question’s easier in that it’s not a horrid superlative... and in that I could pick (almost) any blog post and feign being thoughtful. But still, I have to pick one? Your questions are brutal. I’m going to cheat and offer two.